James M. McDermott

Jim joined the Royal Navy in August 1943 at 17 years of age. After having been already a sea cadet for six years, he was sent for abbreviated basic training in Chatham, in the south of England. The training lasted six weeks, and Jim recalled to family that a swimming test was part of it. The recruits were all paraded to the pool, and he, along with everyone else, assumed they would start in the shallow end, but to their dismay, they were pushed in. This was a quick learning experience!

At the end of basic training, Jim was posted to the British Aircraft Carrier, HMS Formidable travelling through the Mediterranean, and the Pacific. When the ship was in battle station, he was posted to the forward gun deck where he moved the ammunition to the battery. In 1945, en route to the Pacific, the HMS Formidable was engaged in many battles, and as Jim said to family, he spent much time at his battle station on the forward gun deck. Kamakaze attacks were numerous, and the ship was hit several times sustaining damage. Thanks to the medal flight deck, the Formidable was never put out of action and continued on launching fighters from her deck and battling the Japanese planes. After the surrender of Japan, the Formidable sailed back to Sydney Australia, then to Hong Kong; and then on to Portsmouth England, where Jim was demobilized in July of 1946.

Family recounts his memories including: his many encounters with the Japanese Fleet, the surrender of Hong Kong, the loss of crew mates when the ship was bombed, and transporting POW’s to Britain after the war.

Jim was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Atlantic Star, the Burma Star and the King George Medal.

We Will Remember Them